Build-n-Share Challenge #115 - Man Cave ** Due 27th March 2019**

It’s not that he seems unhappy, exactly, or even displeased with you. He just seems flat. As if there is no excitement or emotion there at all. “I’d like a cave,” Mr. Durtal says.
“Oh, I enjoy doing man caves! So much room for creativity. Sports memorabilia, wet bar, maybe some arcade games?”
But he shakes his head. “No, I mean a cave. Literally, a cave.”
“A cave?”
He nods.
“As in, a hole in a rock?”
He nods again. “A cave. Made habitable, of course. Curtains, table, chairs, bed… all natural materials that, well, look like they’d belong in a cave.”
Well, who are you to judge others’ interests, right? “Well, I admit, this is a first for me.”
“I love the idea of having a real cave,” he says. “Where I can… well, y’know, just be me.”
You think you know what he means and you really do not want that mental image. Though, speaking of image, this is not what you had in mind when Mr. Durtal sat down across from you. He seems so clean-cut, modern clothes, nothing about him screamed ‘caveman’.
“But, with walls, of course, yes?”
“Not necessarily. Look, I admit, I may not know exactly how to go about it, but I want to live in a cave. Like, you know, cavemen did. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do.”
You fidget with your pencil. “Nothing modern at all?”
“Well… it could use some basic plumbing. A fridge would be nice, too. But make them look as ‘stone-agy’ as you can. Nothing overtly modern; no tv or anything.”
“So leather, furs, wood, definitely stone, and of course, fire,” you say as you start making notes.
“Exactly!” he says.
You put down the pencil and smile. “I think that’s all do-able, Nean.”
He seems surprised to hear it, and it’s sort of a relief to see some spark of emotion on his face at last. “Really?”
“Of course,” you say. “There is a reason people come to me, after all.”
He breaks into a wide grin. “This is amazing! You are the first architect who has accepted my request!”
“Oh? How many have you asked?”
“Twenty-seven,” he says.
“Ah.” Well, that explains his initial mood. “Well, I guess that makes me lucky number twenty-eight!”

The Brief

§80,000 budget

Create a “cave” house.

The basic needs of your sim must be met - hunger, bladder, hygiene, energy, fun - but you have wide leeway in how to meet them.

All items should be made to blend as much as possible with the theme. Avoid anything too overtly modern.

Landscaping must complement the theme.

Sim Challenge
Create your cave client, Nean Durtal.

Room Challenge
No room challenge this round

Please use the whole of hashtag #BnS115 when you upload your creations, any build, room or household without this hashtag will not be judged.

The deadline for this challenge is Wednesday 27th March 2019 ** [no later than 23:59:59 EDT/New York Time]

BUILD OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM (please copy and paste into your entry post)
CHALLENGE #115 - Man Cave
FORUM ID:
ORIGIN ID:
LEVEL: (Whichever entry level you feel fits your current build level i.e. Starting Out, Established or Expert - leave blank if this is your first entry and the team will place you in the category you fit best)
LOT: (Link to where the build can be found with on The Gallery)
LOT COST:
LOT NAME: (Which lot you built on)
GALLERY COST: (see the rules section for how to find this information)
TOTAL COST: (Lot cost and gallery cost added together)[/s]
LINK TO ENTRY SLIDESHOW: (REQUIRED - your images are what BuildnShare will use to judge your entries)
ENTRY DETAILS: (Be sure to tell us about your entry)
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM: (Please state here as to whether or not you would like to receive constructive criticism for your entry
CREDIT FOR CC/RECOLORS: (Please give links to any CC, mods, and/or recolours you used in your entry)
TWITTER TAG: (entirely optional but makes it easier for us to tag you)
FACEBOOK PROFILE: (entirely optional but makes it easier for us to tag you)
TUMBLR LINK: (entirely optional but makes it easier for us to tag you)
SPACE FOR PICTURES: (Only a maximum of two per entry, please)

SIM ENTRY FORM (please copy and paste into your entry post)
CHALLENGE #115 - Man Cave
FORUM ID:
ORIGIN ID:
LEVEL: (Whichever entry level you feel fits your current build level i.e. Starting Out, Established or Expert - leave blank if this is your first entry and the team will place you in the category you fit best)
HOUSEHOLD: (Link to where the household can be found with on The Gallery)
LINK TO ENTRY SLIDESHOW: (REQUIRED - your images are what BuildnShare will use to judge your entries)
ENTRY DETAILS: (Be sure to tell us about your entry)
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM: (Please state here as to whether or not you would like to receive constructive criticism for your entry
CREDIT FOR CC/RECOLORS: (Please give links to any CC, mods, and/or recolours you used in your entry)
TWITTER TAG: (entirely optional but makes it easier for us to tag you)
FACEBOOK PROFILE: (entirely optional but makes it easier for us to tag you)
TUMBLR LINK: (entirely optional but makes it easier for us to tag you)
SPACE FOR PICTURES: (Only a maximum of two per entry, please)
Please note the changes to the entry form, the judges are having some difficulties in working out if people are entering the Room/Sim challenges, therefore we are making it compulsory for the Sim and/or Room challenges to have their own media showcases.

ROOM ENTRY FORM (please copy and paste into your entry post)CHALLENGE #115 - Man CaveFORUM ID:
ORIGIN ID:
LEVEL: (Whichever entry level you feel fits your current build level i.e. Starting Out, Established or Expert - leave blank if this is your first entry and the team will place you in the category you fit best)
ROOM: (Link to where the room can be found with on The Gallery)
GALLERY COST: (see the rules section for how to find this information)
LINK TO ENTRY SLIDESHOW: (REQUIRED - your images are what BuildnShare will use to judge your entries)
ENTRY DETAILS: (Be sure to tell us about your entry)
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM: (Please state here as to whether or not you would like to receive constructive criticism for your entry
CREDIT FOR CC/RECOLORS: (Please give links to any CC, mods, and/or recolours you used in your entry)
TWITTER TAG: (entirely optional but makes it easier for us to tag you)
FACEBOOK PROFILE: (entirely optional but makes it easier for us to tag you)
TUMBLR LINK: (entirely optional but makes it easier for us to tag you)
SPACE FOR PICTURES: (Only a maximum of two per entry, please)
Please note the changes to the entry form, the judges are having some difficulties in working out if people are entering the Room/Sim challenges, therefore we are making it compulsory for the Sim and/or Room challenges to have their own media showcases.

Please use the whole of hashtag #BnS115 when you upload your creations, any build, room or household without this hashtag will not be judged.

The deadline for this challenge is Wednesday 27th March 2019 ** [no later than 23:59:59 EDT/New York Time]

Post edited by BuildnShare on March 19

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Comments

The Build-n-Share challenges will be posted every other Wednesday and run for two weeks. Results will be posted in the Winner's Circle thread. Look for results typically a week to two weeks after the deadline.

And you can keep up to date with challenge details and winners on our social media:

All entries must provide a media showcase for BuildnShare to use when judging your entries. We feel that it is unfair to expect our judges to have every SP, GP and EP in order to judge from a download. Please ensure that any features you wish the judges to see are shown in your media showcase. your media showcase should consist of still images of your build and be uploaded to an image hosting website such as flickr, picasa, imgur, a blog or even a thread here on the forums. Please note that we will not judge any entry hosted on Photobucket, tinypics. bannersnack or post image.

Please ensure that you check that your links work. Any link found to be not working will result in your entry not being judged.

All entries must be original and previously unpublished work. Avoid using "styled looks" from Sims 4, or any Sim, challenge or room that you have already uplaoded and showcased. Any competitor who submits another builder’s work will be disqualified and banned from any future Build-n-Share challenge.

Playing your lot to purposefully allow depreciation, i.e. to allow you to buy more stuff for the budget, is not allowed, you can, of course, playtest your lot, but please make a note of the cost of the lot prior to testing and state this as your lot price. Also using 'low value/high quality' CC is a no-no. The cost of the lot that you are building on in ALWAYS to be included in your total cost unless it is expressly stated otherwise.

You must upload your entry to the gallery for it to count as an official entry, this is due it being the only way that judges can confirm the lot cost of your builds.

To find your Gallery cost, you need to follow these instructions:

Your gallery build description must include the relevant challenge hashtag, this way, we can let you know should your build be favourited by Maxis!

By entering, you agree to allow your lot to be showcased on any of the BuildnShare social media outlets.

Please announce your official lot posting using the entry form below. Make sure to leave the "Official Entry" label notable. If you need to reformat it, you can do this by highlighting the desired text and then selecting "B" in the options above. This will help us see the entries in a sea of posts with no pics to guide us.

Entries must be submitted by the deadline, no later than 23:59:59 Wednesday night (EST/New York, USA).

Your media should include a variety of screenshots to best showcase your entry. Please include at least one clear shot of the main floorplan of the build. If your build has multiple floors, please take a screenshot of each floor. Your media must be in the format of a slideshow, no videos, please. We have a guide to what we look for in a showcase here.

We will not judge any entry hosted on Photobucket, tinypics, bannersnack or post image.

Season's Update - Ensure that the majority of your exterior pictures are taken in Summer so that the judges can accurately judge your landscaping. You are also free to show pictures of your builds in different seasons as well, but that these should be clearly labelled with the season. To change the season you can use this cheat (first as with all cheats you must bring up the console using "CTRL + Shift + C" then type in the box that appears "testingcheats true" If it worked, the phrase "Cheats Enabled" should appear below the console. Next type "seasons.set_season X" - change X to 0 for summer, 1 for fall, 2 for winter, or 3 for spring.

All new members please enter your links as needed, but if you pop a space in like this h ttps: it will not register as a live link, this will allow us to easily make your links live.

In all categories, we put an equal value on landscaping, aesthetics, architecture and interior design, with a nod toward playability.

If you are new to BuildnShare, we recommend that you leave your entry category empty this way the BnS team can take a look at your entry and place you in a category appropriate to your skills.

Starting Out - if you are new to building in TS4, this is where you should enter. Things we look for at this level are appropriate room sizes, cohesive exterior style, use of plants that reflect the style of the build and complimentary colours. Pictures should be well organize and provide a complete overviewthe of build

Established - we recommend entering at this level if you have been promoted from Starting Out. Things looked for over and above Starting Out are, thought as to how the build will ultimately play, good roof lines, use of terrain paints, cohesive interiors and good object choice and placement. Pictures should be well organised, well lit and labelled.

Expert - we recommend entering at this level if you have been promoted from Established. Things we look for at this level, over and above Established are interesting architecture, thought given to interior and exterior decorative details, creation of livable outdoor spaces. Pictures should have good angles, making good use of camera control options.

A note of caution, just because you have used something mentioned in a category, does not necessarily mean that you automatically fit in that category. If you are unsure, please tag us and ask for our advice as to where we would place you. Also, we do not advise that you bump yourself up in levels, especially if you are new and we have placed you in a category. We will always promote when we feel you are ready and have no more left to learn in your current category.

The benefits
First place will be awarded at all levels. If there are at least eight entries in a category, up to four places will also be announced. Challenges also create an opportunity for community on the forum site. We get to know one another’s names, share news, builds, and positive words. This is a chance to get your name out there, and hopefully make a few friends along the way.

What makes this challenge different from all the other ones I've seen?
We have been hosting this weekly challenge since the first week the game was released. We have many levels of builders in our community and welcome them all. This group is truly a product of all its great members!

Within the first few challenges, our group was recognized by the gurus that be, who have helped the weekly challenges gain even more popularity be stickying both Build-n-Share threads. Since then, we have had at least one featured creation almost every week, and our list of featured members continues to grow.

With 5 successful collaborative neighborhoods (Gnomelandia, Summer of Love, NYC, Sanshi Sumei and Olde Fairy Tale Village ) completed, Build-n-Share hopes to bring more creative challenges and new neighborhood ideas to the community with the help of our dedicated participants who willingly contribute and help each week to make sure each challenge runs smoothly.

Judging is based solely on the screenshots you provide in your showcase, so, we figured this would be a good time to go over some tips and tricks in taking good screenshots to help showcase your lovely builds.

Camera Man Mode - This is a must in taking good shots! You will have to be in live mode to do this, but just hit "TAB" to enter this mode. Once you are in this mode, you can use the mouse to freely control the angles and use "W, A, S, D" buttons to move forward, backwards, and side to side. "Z" zooms in, "X" zooms out. "Q" moves up and "E" moves down. "C" to capture the shot.

Find the perfect angle - With photography, it is all about finding the right angle. Spend some time in camera man mode to find the perfect angle. Get down to a sim's point of view to take the best shots of rooms.

Walls up - Most people play with walls cut away, but when you are taking pictures of your lot, try to keep your walls up to make your shots look more realistic.

No grids - Unless you need to show the grid for a specific purpose, make sure no build/buy grid is visible when you take your pictures. You can avoid this by taking pictures in live mode or by hitting 'G' button in build mode.

More is better—Weird, huh? But in this case, we want to make sure judges have enough shots to fairly judge your lot. Be sure to show off each room with at least one picture. Also, please include an overhead shot of the floorplan for each level.

Ensure that the majority of your exterior pictures are taken in Summer so that the judges can accurately judge your landscaping. You are also free to show pictures of your builds in different seasons as well, but that these should be clearly labelled with the season.

To change the season you can use this cheat (first as with all cheats you must bring up the console using "CTRL + Shift + C" then type in the box that appears "testingcheats true" If it worked, the phrase "Cheats Enabled" should appear below the console. Next type "seasons.set_season X" - change X to 0 for summer, 1 for fall, 2 for winter, or 3 for spring.

Ok, those are the basics! If you want to further your simatography skills, we highly recommend you take a look at our showcase guide here.

Please try to keep this thread as photo free as possible and create a showcase to illustrate your lots.

I have been a member of the Build N' Share Community since the days of UBERSimmers in Sims 2. I may not be active but I do frequently lurk in the Build N' Share threads. Here is a blast from the past of the One Year UBERSimmer Anniversary.

It would be cool if there were 2 versions each month. One for the full house and one for those who don't have a lot of time, a room. And the rooms can be created to form a house. Such as one month is the living room, next is the dining room, next the kitchen, and so forth and so on until there is a full house. And then you can take it and put it all together and that would be the last one after you are done each room is who can combine their rooms to make the nicest house.

@e1990r - also agree this would be good. Although I'm not sure I would like to have to try and put all the rooms into one house XD The reason I like the idea of a room challenge is because I always found architechture and gardening so difficult LOL I always found it SO difficult to finish houses because of the garden!

For those new to Build-n-Share...
We are a Sims 3/Sims4 community that works together to improve our building, landscaping, and design skills through a bi-weekly design challenge. Individual feedback on each lot from our fantastic volunteer judges as well as challenge winners (from 3 to 5 depending on the number of entrants) for each category are provided for each design challenge.